Research Explains why People Crave Sugary Foods When Stressed

Sugary foods look especially tempting during stress. A new research by Monell Center explains why.

Researchers say that oral taste cells that detect sweet, umami and bitter taste have receptors for hormones that are activated during stress. These stress hormones - glucocorticoids - alter oral cells' response to sweet taste.

"Sweet taste may be particularly affected by stress," said lead author M. Rockwell Parker, PhD, a chemical ecologist at Monell, according to a news release. "Our results may provide a molecular mechanism to help explain why some people eat more sugary foods when they are experiencing intense stress."

Glucocorticoid (GC) hormones increase the activity of specialized GC receptors (GR) present inside cells. Research has already shown that any changes in the GC/GR signalling can lead to obesity and insulin resistance.

In the present study, researchers used mice models to see whether these receptors are present in oral cells.

The team found that GC receptors are not only present in the taste cells, but are highly concentrated in cells that are sensitive to sweet and umami tastes.

Researchers also found that stressed mice had a 77 percent increase of GC receptors in the nucleus of the taste cell.

Other research has already shown that taste perception changes under stress. This study shows that the GC receptors are responsible for this change in taste perception.

"Taste provides one of our initial evaluations of potential foods. If this sense can be directly affected by stress-related hormonal changes, our food interaction will likewise be altered," said Parker.

Also, taste cells can be found in the guts and pancreas and not just the tongue, meaning that stress might even alter the breakdown of sugars.

The National Institutes of Health and others supported the study and it is published in the journal Neuroscience Letters.